Managing Maternity – A Step by Step Guide

Written by Andrew Johnson, Founder and CEO HRGuide - Thu 24th Oct 2024

Introduction - Follow the right process.

When you have been informed an employee is pregnant you need to adopt the following process. An employee’s right to Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave and to return to work, depends on them complying with various notification requirements.

Prior to taking maternity leave employees must notify the Company in writing in or before the 15th week before their expected week of childbirth (EWC) (or if that is not reasonably practicable as much notice as is reasonably practicable) of:

  • The fact that they are pregnant, by producing a MAT B1 Certificate from a registered medical practitioner, or a registered midwife stating the EWC or, if childbirth has already occurred, the date of birth.
  • The date on which they intend their Ordinary Maternity Leave to begin. (This date cannot be earlier than the 11th week before the EWC).
  • Whether or not they believe they are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay.

You can provide them with a form to notify the Company of all these matters. (Download our Employees Maternity Plan in the Forms and Letters section of hrguide.co.uk)

You must then respond in writing to the employee within 28 days of receiving the notification. In this response you will state the expected date of return to work (You will assume that the employee intends to take the maximum amount of leave (Ordinary and Additional) to which they are entitled.

As soon as practicable after you have been informed about the pregnancy you should meet with the employee. This will be an informal interview to ensure that the employee is aware of their right to Ordinary Maternity Leave and Additional Maternity Leave where appropriate, and to payments during maternity leave as well as the requirement for them to give appropriate notices. This is also an opportunity for any possible health and safety concerns to be raised.

Best Practice - It is important that you keep the employee informed of arrangements for cover during the period of maternity and extended leave and also how you intend to keep them informed of any developments at work through circulation lists for internal memoranda and other documents and will be included in invitations to work-related social events as though they were still at work.

Before maternity leave starts, you should agree with your employee the best way to keep in touch about important changes or news at work. This includes arranging how you'll keep in touch. Try and agree a way of keeping in touch that's comfortable for your employee, for example you can ask them if they prefer email to phone calls.

By law you must tell them about:

  • promotion or other job opportunities
  • redundancies
  • any reorganisation that could affect their job

You could also tell them about:

  • social events
  • colleagues who are leaving or joining
  • arrangements for their return to work

It's a good idea to:

  • let the employee decide how much contact they want, unless the contact is about things you must tell them about.
  • remind them they do not have to do any work during maternity leave.

Time off for Ante-Natal care - Employees have the right to paid time off to attend ante-natal appointments recommended by their medical practitioner, midwife or health visitor. An Absence Notification form should be completed for each ante-natal appointment lasting half a day and over, and an appointment card should be produced when presenting the form for authorisation. Employees must produce evidence of ante-natal appointments if requested by their Line Manager and you can request, they rearrange any appointments which conflict with specific working arrangements.

Keeping in Touch (Kit) Days - An employee on maternity leave may agree with the employer to work for up to 10 days during the statutory maternity leave period, (both ordinary and additional) without bringing the leave period to an end as a result of having carried out that work. “Work”, shall include training and any other activity undertaken to keep the employee in touch with the workplace. No work shall be carried out in the first 2 weeks after childbirth. Any work carried out on any day shall constitute a day’s work. Any day’s work carried out shall not have the effect of extending the total duration of the statutory maternity leave.

Both sides should agree the following before deciding keeping in touch days:

  • the work the employee will do on these days.
  • the pay – this cannot be below the National Minimum Wage. The statutory maternity pay an employee receives does not count towards a National Minimum Wage calculation.

If an employee works part of a keeping in touch day, it still counts as a full day. If they work more than 10 keeping in touch days, their maternity leave and pay automatically end.

If they're taking shared parental leave - As well as taking up to 10 keeping in touch days, an employee taking shared parental leave might be able to take 20 extra days for keeping in touch. These extra days are known as shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days.

Accrued Holidays - Where possible, any accrued holiday entitlement should be taken by the employee before their maternity leave starts. During Maternity Leave, they will continue to accrue holiday entitlement as normal.

Premature Birth or Still Birth - The full provisions of the maternity policy will apply if the baby is born before the 11th week before the EWC; or dies or is still born after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Where this occurs provide sympathetic consideration according to the employee’s needs and medical opinion.

Employing someone else to do the work - You can choose to employ someone else to do the work ('maternity cover') while the employee is on maternity leave. The maternity cover can be an existing or new employee. Usually, these roles are temporary with a fixed end date.

You must tell the person doing maternity cover what happens when their role ends. For example:

  • if they're an existing employee, whether they'll go back to their previous role or to a different one
  • if they're a new employee, whether their job will come to an end – if so you must end their contract fairly
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If they become pregnant on maternity leave - If the employee becomes pregnant while on maternity leave, they're entitled to another 52 weeks' maternity leave.

By law, the employee cannot start their next maternity leave until the 11th week before their baby is due. So if their first maternity leave ends before that point, they'll need to either:

  • return to work until at least the 11th week before the baby is due.
  • see if they can stay off work by taking another type of leave (such as holiday leave) – it's up to you to decide if they can do this and they must give you the correct notice.

Returning to Work after Maternity Leave

When an employee wants to return to work after their maternity leave there are certain processes they need to follow. An employee may return at the end of her ordinary maternity leave period without notice. However, you can ask employees as a matter of courtesy to telephone you to agree a date for return to work even if they intend to do so immediately after their ordinary maternity leave period. In any event you should write to the employee notifying them of the date on which her ordinary maternity period will end.

If the employee intends to return to work before the end of her ordinary maternity leave period, she must give at least 8 weeks’ notice of her date of return and if she fails to do so her return to work date may be postponed to the extent necessary to give such notice, but no later than 8 weeks. You will not be under obligation to pay remuneration until the postponed date.

IMPORTANT – You may not postpone an early return to work if you have failed to give the employee notice of when her ordinary maternity leave ends.

If your employee gives notice of her intention to return to work before the end of her ordinary maternity leave period and subsequently changes her mind about her intended return date, she must give a further 8 weeks’ notice of the new chosen return date. If the return date is later than the original notified date the employee’s 8 weeks further notice must end no later than the original notification date. The employer may at their discretion accept a shorter notice period.

When an employee wants to return to work after her additional maternity leave period she can do so without notice. However, you can ask employees as a matter of courtesy to telephone you to agree a date for return to work. If the employee intends to return to work before the end of her additional maternity leave period, she must give at least 8 weeks’ notice of her date of return and if she fails to do so her return to work date may be postponed to the extent necessary to give such notice, but no later than 8 weeks.

The employee is not permitted to return to work until at least two weeks after the date of childbirth.

At the end of Ordinary Maternity Leave, an employee has the right to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions as before. If an employee decides to return during or at the end of Additional Maternity Leave, and the Company finds it impracticable for them to return to the same job, then they have the right to return to a similar job on terms and conditions which are not less favourable than those which would have been applicable to them had they not been absent from work.

Before they return to work - At least 2 weeks before they are due to return to work, invite the employee to an informal meeting in order to provide an opportunity for discussion of any material points concerning their return to work. For many reasons retraining needs may arise, and you need to impress these upon the employee. It should be your aim to ensure that an employee’s maternity leave does not put her at a disadvantage in relation to skills or other training needs. The interview will also provide an opportunity to discuss and explain any necessary and unavoidable changes to their work.

If there's no alternative but to offer them a different job, the job must be suitable, appropriate and on the same terms. For example, it must have the same:

  • pay
  • benefits
  • holiday leave and pay
  • location
  • seniority

If they want to change how they work - An employee can make a flexible working request if they want to make significant changes to how they work, for example different working hours. Find out more about flexible working by downloading our HR How to Guide on Flexible Working

Health and safety - The law says you must do a health and safety risk assessment for women of childbearing age, including pregnant women and new mothers.

Breastfeeding - By law, you must provide somewhere suitable for your employee to rest if they're breastfeeding. It's a good idea to also provide support so they can breastfeed or express milk at work, such as a private room and a fridge to store the milk.

Redundancy - By law, you cannot make an employee redundant for taking maternity leave or requesting flexible working to care for their child.

If the employee wants to leave their job - The employee must follow the usual process for resigning, including giving notice. This process should be written in their employment contract. It's a good idea to consider any handover that might be needed. You could use keeping in touch (KIT) days to do this. They might need to repay some or all of their maternity pay if they took 'enhanced' maternity pay.

If the employee has a complaint - If the employee is unhappy about how their return to work has been managed, they can raise the problem with you. It's best if they raise the problem informally first. They can also raise the problem formally. This is known as 'raising a grievance'. Download our HR How to Guide on Managing Grievances.